1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to advertisements in a digital medium. More specifically, this invention relates to generating lists of products, services and/or advertisers that may be of interest to a particular consumer, those products or services or an advertisement related thereto having been encountered in a digital medium, such as an interactive video game.
2. Description of the Related Art
At one time, advertisements were limited to handbills and word-of-mouth. As new mediums for communication developed, so did opportunities and means for advertising. For example, with the advent of newspapers and magazines, advertisements soon began to fill the pages alongside the daily or weekly news.
Such advertising generally proved to be a benefit to all parties involved. Advertisers were able to tout their latest products or services (or those of their clientele); newspapers and magazines were able to offset the costs of printing through the sale of advertising space; and consumers were able to learn of new products of interest through their interaction with these various forms of media. This beneficial relationship amongst the advertiser, media, and consumer held true with regard to the arrival of radio and television.
Advertisers and media outlets are now, however, finding themselves challenged by the rise of digital media, especially with regard to video games and portable digital media devices. As the advertising power of older mediums decreases due to the rise of video games and portable digital media as forms of entertainment, advertising buys for product and service offerings are generally seen by less people as a whole and, demographically, less of the power-buying public. As such, there has become an increased effort to expand advertising to digital media.
Despite the ability to introduce advertising content into, for example, a video game environment, the user may often be unable to view the advertisement or to process and comprehend the information conveyed by that advertisement. For example, in a racing game, a user might pass a billboard advertising a particular product or service. Due to the speed of the user's vehicle in the video game environment and the need of the user to focus on maintaining control of their vehicle and competing with other players, the user may be unable to observe all the aspects of the advertisement, especially if the advertisement conveys some degree of detail or ‘fine print.’
Similarly, in a role-playing game, a user might guide a game character through an urban environment while fighting an enemy character. As a result of the user attempting to keep their game character alive, it may be unlikely for the user to have the opportunity to pay close attention to any advertising that might appear on billboards or in other locales in the game environment.
Notwithstanding the possible inability of the user to observe these advertisements due to other priorities (e.g., in game competition or watching a movie on DVD), many users may have a genuine interest in a product or service being advertised. Similarly, advertisers may have spent considerable sums of money for the placement of static or dynamic advertisement in a particular game environment. Accordingly, there is a need for users to be able to observe advertisements and/or products and services related to those advertisements that appear in a digital environment at a time more conducive to observation whereby user attention to advertisements does not interrupt or overtly hinder the core video game or digital media experience.